Nazi Germany was the German state from 1933 to 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) transformed the country into a totalitarian one-party dictatorship. Formed after Hitler's appointment as chancellor on 30 January 1933 and the Enabling Act of 23 March 1933, which dissolved the Weimar Republic's parliamentary government, the regime pursued rearmament, territorial expansion, and the genocide of Europe's Jews and other groups. It ended with Germany's unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945, following its defeat in the European theater of World War II.
Facts
Government TypeTotalitarian one-party dictatorship (unitary fascist state) 1 Government type (class) Classification
Status (Extant or Former) FAQs
Why is Nazi Germany also called the Third Reich?
The Nazis claimed their state was the third German empire after the Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire.
Third Reich means Third Realm or Third Empire. The Nazis used the name to claim that their state was the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted from 800 to 1806, and to the German Empire of 1871 to 1918. They also called it the Thousand-Year Reich, but it ended just twelve years later in May 1945. Its official name was the German Reich, and later the Greater German Reich.
Was the Nazi government a single coordinated body?
Hitler held supreme authority but beneath him the government was a collection of rival factions.
No. Power was centralised in Hitler's person and his word became the highest law, but the government was not a coordinated, cooperating body. It was a collection of factions struggling to amass power. A 1934 referendum had confirmed Hitler as sole Führer, or leader.
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Source Wikipedia: Nazi Germany
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Preceded By
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Government Type
Also in Society and Culture Atlas: the government type of this subject.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Nazi Germany
WikipediaIntroduction
Nazi Germany...was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship.
Consolidation of power section
Germany was now a totalitarian state with Hitler at its head.
Infobox
Capital and largest city: Berlin
Nazi seizure of power section
Under pressure from politicians, industrialists, and the business community, President Paul von Hindenburg reluctantly appointed Hitler Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933.
Infobox historical events
Between 4 and 8 May 1945, most of the remaining German armed forces unconditionally surrendered. The German Instrument of Surrender was signed 8 May, marking the end of the Nazi regime and the end of World War II in Europe.
Nazi Germany: Status
Nazi Germany, officially the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship.
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